George Sherman Movies

When irascible boss T.R. Hollister (Jim Backus) threatens to pull the plug on an underwater environmental living project, employee Fred Miller (Tony Randall) and his wife, Vivian (Janet Leigh), take their family down in the deep to live for 30 days. With all the modern conveniences of a home on land, the family even invites a rock & roll band to get down and record. Merv Griffin (himself) arranges an underwater interview for his television show while Mel Cheever (Ken Berry) schemes to get Fred's job back on dry land. Two of the Miller kids, Lorrie (Kay Cole) and Tommy (Gary Tigerman), join three others (Richard Dreyfuss, Roddy McDowall, and Lou Wagner) in the rock band. Friendly dolphins fend of shark attacks as the land sharks try to scuttle the underwater project in this family film. Music is provided by Jeff Barry. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This drama is based on the true story of a Mexican immigrant and his wife, who travel to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Their only friend in the area is an army captain. They are taunted by a group of racist miners, and the wife is raped and murdered. The husband swears revenge, rounds up a group of men, and conducts raids on mining camps in search of the murderers, becoming a successful gambler along the way. The army captain is forced to kill him when the raids get too wild. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

Frank Pagano, mobster and head of Pagano Enterprises, needs to lose $500,000 within thirty days to avoid paying a large sum in income taxes. Deciding on an ingenious plot to produce a flop television pilot, he hires Philipe Fontaine (Maurice Chevalier), a fizzled star who can no longer find work. Philipe's screen-girl is to be played by Angela (Jayne Mansfield), a prostitute aspiring to be an actress--who also happens to be quite close to Frank. Though Philipe tries his best to make what he can of the role, the project seems doomed under the direction of inept Pandowski (Akim Tamiroff). When Philipe finds out what is really going on, he sneaks a copy of the project to the Venice Film Festival as a comedy feature--slightly setting Frank's plan askew. Shot in Rome and Venice, this comedy based on a story by independent producer Ron Gorton took three years to finish. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Michael Curtiz's The Comancheros was a deceptively complex movie -- so enjoyable, that it masked some of the best character development seen in a John Wayne vehicle that was not directed by John Ford or Howard Hawks, and so well made that it got by with some of the most violent action seen in a major studio release of the era. It also bridged the gap between Ford's The Searchers and the upbeat buddy movies of the late '60s and '70s (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, etc.). It's 1843 in the Republic of Texas, and Jake Cutter (John Wayne) is a two-fisted Texas Ranger who runs across a gang of white renegades, called the Comancheros, who are trading guns and other contraband with marauding Comanches from a secret hideout in Mexico. Substituting for a repentant gun-runner, he goes undercover as a partner with Crow (Lee Marvin), a vicious half-breed who is a contact man with the Comancheros and knows the whereabouts of their hideout in Mexico. But Crow manages to get himself killed, and Cutter is forced to throw in with Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), a bystander who also happens to be an itinerant gambler wanted for killing a man in a duel in New Orleans, to complete his mission. It turns out that Regret is a more decent man than most, and he and Cutter, despite some different outlooks on right and wrong, take a liking to each other. Their quest eventually takes them south of the border, where they find the Comancheros and their leader, Graile (Nehemiah Persoff), a bitter, brilliant cripple -- think of The Sea Wolf's Wolf Larsen in a wheelchair -- who has established a landlocked pirate society, and his daughter Pilar (Ina Balin). The only thing that keeps Cutter and Regret alive when they enter the camp is that Pilar and Regret have a history, and she still has feelings for him, enough so that she won't tell what she knows about Cutter and who he is. The two men must play on Graile's greed and Pilar's love in the explosive surroundings of the Comancheros' camp, while figuring out a way to stay alive long enough to get word to the rangers about where they are -- and to survive the attack that must inevitably follow.

Director Michael Curtiz was ill for part of the shoot, and Wayne took up the slack, but The Comancheros displays some of the same freewheeling charm and deep passions that informed classic films of his such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Sea Hawk. Wayne and Whitman between them manage to evoke some of the rambunctiousness of Errol Flynn, and when Balin (one of the sexiest leading ladies ever to grace a John Wayne movie) arrives onscreen, the testosterone level shoots up even higher and the sexual sparks fly. The film's 105 minutes go by very fast, and this is a movie whose ending comes almost too soon. Curtiz's final film is one that leaves audiences with a smile, but also wanting more, which was a pretty good way to go out. John Wayne's daughter, Aissa Wayne (who subsequently went into a law career) appears in a small role. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Hell Bent for Leather is a standard western that features Audie Murphy in the role of Clay, a cowboy hunted by a posse out for blood. Clay deals and trade in horses in an honest way, and he does not suspect that a crooked U.S. Marshal (Stephen McNally) interested in furthering his career, is determined to nab him as a killer though he knows full well Clay is innocent. When first attacked, Clay grabs a hostage (Felicia Farr) who eventually sides with him and helps him in the long chase that follows. Clay's challenge is not only to get away from the Marshal and his posse but to somehow prove his innocence as well. Murphy, the most decorated soldier in World War II was still riding the popularity of his own real-life story in 1955's To Hell and Back when this western was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A young Native American boy saves the day in this competent children's western by director George Sherman. Little twelve-year-old Michael (Danny Bravo) is an orphan whose best friends are young Father Phelan (Richard Basehart) and the curmudgeonly Father Walsh (Arthur Shields). The good fathers would like to raise money for a new shrine but the project seems hopeless -- until Michael steps into the picture. He devotes himself to the care and training of a white quarterhorse with his eye on the big, local race coming up soon. If the horse can win the race, it would be enough to cover the cost of the shrine. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the seventh episode of Walt Disney's ten-part miniseries, Elfego Baca, gunslinger-turned-lawyer Baca (Robert Loggia) comes to the defense of the Mustangers, a nomad-like religious sect. Determined to establish a permanent homestead on a land recently opened up by the government, the Mustanger face fierce opposition from the local cattlemen who worry that they will lose their own grazing land. Ever the champion of the underdog, Elfego Baca hopes to prevent the Mustangers from being driven out by violence -- a task made difficult by the sect's hotheaded leader, Shadrack O'Reilly (Brian Keith). A young James Coburn appears in a supporting role. "Move Along, Mustangers" was originally telecast as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The spectacle of the big top and flying trapeze artists provide a dramatic setting for this standard tale about an aerialist returned from Army service, looking to pick up where he left off. Rick Rias (Michael Callan) receives a double shock when he comes back from the Army: the woman he loved before he was called to duty is now married to someone else, and his father will not recommend him for an aerial act because he says he is not ready yet. Rick's broken heart starts to mend when he takes an interest in young Suzanne (Evy Norlund), the newest member of the "Flying Fontaines." The only drawback is that her heart is set on Bill (Rian Garrick) another trapeze artist. Rick's luck continues to deteriorate as one misfortune follows another. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Scotty (Sterling Hayden), a charter pilot operating out of Mexico, is forced to join up with a criminal gang when his son is kidnapped. Cesar (Rodolfo Hoyos), the leader of the gang, wants Scotty to help the crooks escape to freedom with $250,000 in stolen money. The plane crashes, forcing Scotty and the gang to make the rest of their getaway on foot and in hijacked cars. Along the way, Scotty falls in love with Cesar's semi-honest daughter Teresa (Grace Raynor). From the looks of things, Ten Days to Tulara began as a documentary of Mexican native ceremonials and dances, with the plotline tacked on to keep the audience from nodding off. In any event, it's curious that the ABC network chose this very modest programmer as one of the entries in their 1962-63 Hollywood Special movie package, along with Inherit the Wind, The Magnificent Seven and On the Beach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, the tables are turned and the Indians get revenge on the whites. The story centers around a man, who is part Indian, as he buys a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the local whites hate all Indians, especially his neighbors, three brothers who recently were tried and found innocent of killing two Indians who had wandered on their land. Meanwhile a woman, falls in love with him while he takes on the racist trio. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location, Treasure of Pancho Villa stars Rory Calhoun as a mercenary at large during Mexico's civil war. Though he'll sell his services to the highest bidder, Calhoun is eventually won over to Pancho Villa's cause by patriot Gilbert Roland and former aristocrat Shelley Winters. Before this happens, however, our hero (who doesn't behave like one) wheels and deals to get his hands on a cache of gold. Without giving away the ending, it can be noted that the film borrows liberally from Treasure of Sierra Madre. While the dialogue passages in Treasure of Pancho Villa can be tiresome, the film is saved by its literally explosive action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This laid-back western manages to deliver a full quota of action, an agreeable dash of sentiment, and quite a few three-dimensional characterizations. Van Heflin plays Luke Fargo, a Civil War veteran who returns to his Southern homeland to find his house destroyed, his crops burned out, and the local town under the thumb of "white trash" Vancey Huggins (Raymond Burr). In addition, Fargo is on the outs with the townsfolk because he fought for the Union instead of the Confederacy. Having grown weary of death and killing, Fargo hopes to start life anew as a minister, and to that end intends to rebuild the town's only church. Complicating matters is the presence of unkempt, hoydenish teenager Lissy (Joanne Woodward, in her film debut). Though Fargo's feelings for Lissy are basically paternal, the townsfolk, stirred up by Huggins, suspect the worst and prepare to drive the novice minister out of town. A happy--or at least satisfying--ending is reached through a series of logical events not often seen in "formula" westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide